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Up to 46 schools now have less than 70% utilization, a significant increase from last year’s 16 schools listed for possible closure.
North Haven Elementary School was photographed on Thursday, May 26, 2022. Azin Ghaffari / Postmedia
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A growing number of public schools and critical programs for at-risk students are facing possible closures or relocations, as low enrollment continues to affect dozens of buildings.
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Up to 46 schools now have less than 70 percent utilization, a significant increase from last year’s 16 schools that qualified for a possible closure, meaning many more could be at risk of closure. its doors.
In addition, critical programs such as Start Outreach for at-risk students at Bowness and Louise Dean School for Adolescent Mothers in Kensington are also facing low enrollment and could be considered closing or relocating over the next two years.
Calgary Board of Education officials say they are increasingly challenged to fill buildings with a new provincial funding formula that requires schools to have 85% utilization rates to receive funding for the operation. and maintenance.
Combined with that, says CBE facilities superintendent Dany Breton, it’s a generation of young couples who choose to have fewer children, or none.
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“Since 2015, this is the trend we’re seeing, not just in our enrollment figures, but in terms of city census data,” Breton said.
“Families are having fewer children, and that’s what we’re seeing reflected in our enrollment. . . especially in the lower classes ”.
Breton said as this trend continues, a growing number of schools will face low enrollment and the potential for closure.
“For any school that sees low enrollment, closing is certainly a potential consideration, but it’s always a last resort for us.”
According to CBE’s three-year student housing plan presented to administrators this week, many of the 46 low-enrollment schools are in the city center, including Chinook Park School, Glenbrook School and Sunnyside School.
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But a worrying new trend has also emerged that shows many schools in peripheral areas now also facing low enrollment, including schools such as North Haven, Scenic Acres and Coventry Hills Northern Lights School.
Scenic Acres School was photographed on Thursday, May 26, 2022. Azin Ghaffari / Postmedia
At the same time, some suburban areas have schools that exceed 85% capacity, such as Grant MacEwan School in Falconridge and Tom Baines School serving Edgemont and Hamptons.
Breton says balancing low and high tuition could mean changing the boundaries of some schools or moving special programs to new buildings that have too much space.
For example, Start Outreach could be moved to Robert Thirsk High School, Breton said, giving children access to the space in a newer building that is also close to the northwest LRT line.
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But parents say the CBE and the province need to find more creative solutions to keep the city’s schools open.
“It’s really worrying to see such a large number of schools facing a potential closure,” said Medeana Moussa, a spokeswoman for our student advocacy group.
“These schools are the heartbeat of their neighborhoods, they are the places where communities are built, where friendships are made for a lifetime.
“We need equity and access to education for all communities.”
Moussa added that programs for students with special needs are critical supports that should also remain where students access them, rather than relocating them to peripheral areas and forcing students to move.
“When you put such limitations on these students, students who have special needs and need these critical supports, you could eventually see them drop out of school and maybe not even graduate.”
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Moussa said the provincial formula that funds schools at 85% of capacity only forces school boards to focus on filling buildings to the point of overcrowding, at the expense of quality programming.
“When the government has set this arbitrary number of 85, should we create situations where all the classes are overflowing, or the children are sitting on the floor, in the hallways eating or the classes are sharing the gym or the music rooms?
“When you get to that 85 percent rate, you’re overflowing your seams and no longer providing a high-quality education.”
Medeana Moussa, Executive Director of Support our Students Alberta, poses for a photo on Tuesday, August 31, 2021. Azin Ghaffari / Postmedia
Wendy Keiver, executive director of the Alberta School Board Association, added that school closures or relocations are also major disruptions in the lives of students and their families.
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“We need to improve student support,” Keiver said. “Families are upset every time there is a change in the schools, a change that they themselves have not started.
“If a school is closed due to low enrollment, or because it is unsafe or unsafe, or a program is moved, it can be a real challenge for students and a real source of anxiety that can really affect their education.” .
Last month, the ASCA also passed a resolution calling on the Department of Education to eliminate utilization rates as a factor in financing the operation and maintenance.
Breton said pushing schools to 85% utilization rates can be a challenge.
“It ensures that we are good administrators of the funding we receive, to ensure that all of our schools are used to the best of their ability,” Breton said.
Katherine Stavropoulos, Press Secretary to Education Minister Adriana LaGrange, said funding for operations and maintenance (O&M) is provided to ensure safe schools for students, but also to take into account the space that is not use.
“A school is considered to be optimally used between 85 and 100 percent. The O&M funding calculation takes into account that some schools do not use all the space in their buildings, as enrollment may decrease. over time, and that unused classrooms do not have the same cost level as spaces in used classrooms.
eferguson@postmedia.com
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